Lesbian Couple Barred From Prom, A lesbian student at a Catholic high school in Kentucky claims she and her girlfriend were banned from attending their prom because of their sexual orientation.
18-year-old Hope Decker was told Friday by administrators at Lexington Catholic High School in Lexington that she could not go to the dance with her girlfriend, Tiffany Wright, who also attends the school.
"What I experienced in the Dean's Office was blatant homophobia," Decker, a senior, told LEX 18. "We were told that this school has Catholic principles and so they couldn't let it happen."
"At first I was really upset," added Wright. "I mean, we both cried and then I was like, this is ridiculous. There's gotta be something we could do about this."
The couple dressed for the occasion and even attempted to enter the school to attend the event but they were turned away. They then held their own celebration outside the school.
"I just think it's ridiculous that a school that claims to foster love and equality is doing something like this to its own students," Wright said.
Decker, Wright and other students at the school have begun circulating a petition which they plan to send to the principal, as well as the bishop, in the hope that future same-sex couples might be allowed to attend prom. So far, they've gathered more than 100 signatures.
The school's assistant principal told LEX 18 that Lexington Catholic follows the guidelines issued by the Catholic Church on matters of sexuality.
The Vatican's statement on homosexuality declares it to be an "intrinsic moral evil."
"Special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition," the statement reads, "lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."
The Lexington Catholic high incident is reminiscent of the case of Constance McMillen, a lesbian student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in northeastern Mississippi who was banned from attending her 2010 prom in a tuxedo with her date. That school canceled the prom in response to the national controversy which followed its decision.
McMillen was invited to the White House to meet President Barack Obama and served as a Grand Marshall in New York City's Pride parade following the incident. Lesbians banned host better prom in parking lot
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